Cycling in the city

Yesterday I used the Brompton for the first time in about three weeks. I have been on the Trek since I got back from my holiday because I had been doing a lot of local journeys. Plus before I left I was aware that the Brompton was squeaking and I didn’t want to face doing anything oily. The chain is now lubricated and no more squeaking.

But cycling in the West End was a shock after Grenada. To suddenly see so many cyclists every minute was delightful then a little overwhelming. Then I realised when I tried to park and lock the bike that, of course, the weather has turned and the Summer Cyclists have now come back to the roads. Who doesn’t enjoy cycling in good weather in spring and summer! I look with envy at the blogs of LA Cycle Chic and Riding Pretty because they have good weather most of the time.

But it is not all joy in the West End at the moment. The London Cycling Campaign is highlighting the dangers of cycling around the ever increasing road works in the city. The video above is a route I often take and when I wrote recently about how difficult it was getting around the West End this was one of the routes I was talking about. On Oxford Street I worry more about pedestrians who think the road is closed to traffic and just step off the pavement at any point. When I can I do go around these various ‘hot spots’ but as I said road works are on the increase in London and there are very few clear roads.

Back to joy. I have new sandals, seen above, and I will write about them in the next post!